The Peach Bowl is almost here, folks.

Over the past few days, Onward State and the rest of the media contingent have heard from Ole Miss and Penn State players and coaches in the lead-up to the game. We wrote some pretty good stories about what Penn Staters said, but we’ve largely omitted what the Rebels have said about their opponents.

With the final press conferences behind us, we’ve compiled some of the most notable thoughts Ole Miss shared about Penn State and the Nittany Lions.

About The Program

Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, in his fourth year at the helm of the Rebels’ program, had high praise for James Franklin and what he’s built in his 10 years at Penn State. Over his time with Penn State, Franklin has won four bowl games, including three New Year’s Six games, and recorded four 11-win seasons as he searches for his fifth.

Kiffin has only won one bowl game at Ole Miss, the Outback Bowl in his first year. Since then, Kiffin has lost the Sugar Bowl and the Texas Bowl. Not once in Ole Miss history have the Rebels won 11 games.

“Penn State and coach Franklin, they’ve been doing this for a long time. He’s been in these types of games for a long time,” Kiffin said. “I read something where they are the only team that could win all of them, all the New Year’s Six bowls. We’re kind of new to this.”

“They’ve been up here for a long time as top-10 teams, and we’re happy to be up here for the second time in three years. So we’ll just continue to work at it,” he added.

About The Offense

As expected, sophomore quarterback Drew Allar dominated conversation with Ole Miss coaches and players. The Rebels showed appreciation for the first-year starter and parroted phrases James Franklin usually uses to describe his quarterback.

“The quarterback’s arm talent stuck out. He can make a lot of throws downfield, and he has an incredibly strong arm,” safety Trey Washington said.

“For me as a DB, we really don’t like smart quarterbacks, so you can tell he’s really smart. He takes his check-downs when he’s there,” Washington later added. “He’s not really forcing the ball down the field when he doesn’t have it. And he can make throws. We’ve seen throws from far hashes on out routes and stuff like that. So we’re looking forward to the challenge for sure.”

The Nittany Lions drew comparisons to other talented programs, most notably Arkansas and Georgia of the SEC and Georgia Tech of the ACC. Different elements of Penn State’s offense reminded Ole Miss players of the different teams, though the Rebels said they felt confident in facing Penn State after facing similar offenses earlier in the year.

“The tight ends are a huge piece of their offense, which kind of reminds me of Georgia, how they were in 12-personnel most of the game,” defensive end Jared Ivey said. “So kind of an offensive scheme, like how [Georgia] Tech had, and then a QB room like from Arkansas, and then kind of a personnel situation like we saw against Georgia. So kind of a mixture of a few schools we’ve seen this year.”

Across the board, Ole Miss commended how Penn State runs its offense. Even amid a coaching change, the Rebels said each position group will bring a tough challenge.

“They’re very solid up front. They’re well-coached. They’re physical. They do a nice job in the run game. They’re very complementary based on the fronts and the pressures that you show,” defensive coordinator Pete Golding said. “They’ve got two tight ends who are really good players that create extra gaps and isolate from a past standpoint and some mismatches on some backers… So very sound, very well coached. It will be a big challenge.”

About The Defense

Penn State’s defense has undoubtedly been the team’s best unit this season. While Ole Miss played impressive SEC defenses throughout the regular season, its players didn’t hesitate to say Penn State’s group was the best in the country.

“We know statistically they’re the top defense in the country. Going out there against them is going to be a great matchup, and we’re really excited for it,” wide receiver Tre Harris said. “The way they compare to those other teams… the way they go out there and pretty much wreak havoc out there, the D-linemen are pretty good, as well as pretty much the SEC guys.”

“I think they’re just an extremely well-coaches, disciplined football team,” co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Charlie Weis Jr. said. “It’s extremely impressive in having those players and getting them to play assignment sound, very well-structured overall defense.”

“I feel like this type of defense, they’re always in the right spot,” tight end Caden Prieskorn said. “So we have to control what we can control and do our part on offense to give us the best chance to win.”

One of the focal points of the game will likely come in Penn State’s secondary. The Rebels have a sturdy quarterback in Jaxson Dart, and three receivers who’ve had 700-yard seasons create issues that Penn State hasn’t seen much this season, with the only possible exception in Ohio State. In the battle between the Nittany Lions’ defensive backs and the Rebels’ receivers, Ole Miss is betting on itself.

“We know they’ve got a good secondary back there, but we’ve got good receivers. We’ve got good guys with good pass catches and a good QB that is going to give us the ball on time,” Harris said. “So we’ll go out there and play our game, and we’re going to bring it to them.”

“I feel confident in our game plan going into it. We’ve played against really good, in my opinion, the best competition all year long,” quarterback Dart said. “It’s not going to be something to where we feel like it’s out of the norm or anything like that.”

Ole Miss will have to deal with one significant complication. With the departure of Manny Diaz to Duke, Penn State is using Anthony Poindexter and Robb Smith as interim co-defensive coordinators. The Rebels don’t have any film from this season to see how Poindexter and Smith will call the game, giving them little to work with to prepare for how the Nittany Lions will play during the game.

“I think it’s very complicated with new coaches, with Manny moving on,” Kiffin said. “So I think everybody’s first assumption is, oh, that’s great for the opponent because the coordinator is not there, but it’s also complicated because play callers have tendencies. So we don’t know really what to expect. We know it’s a major challenge of phenomenal players and a really good scheme.”